Help With BS in Psych at Excelsior College

[nosleepsheep]

Hello all, I'm very new to the testing out process, and have only known about it for a few months. I've just enrolled in the B.S. in Psychology degree at Excelsior College & I'm trying to put together a list of CLEP tests that EC would accept to apply towards my degree. I have 111 Credits to go... I did complete a few searches on this subject but didnt find anything specific to Psych.

Thank you for your time

[Jonathan Whatley]

Welcome!

Excelsior accepts every CLEP, except, if I have this correctly, English Composition (and retired tests similar to English Composition like the former Freshman College Composition).

The three CLEPs that should count specifically towards a major in psychology are Introductory Psychology (duplicative alternative test: in the subject UExcel Introduction to Psychology), Human Growth and Development (duplicative alternative tests: DSST Lifespan Developmental Psychology, ECE Life Span Developmental Psychology) and Introduction to Educational Psychology.

Your richest single source of testing-out credits in psychology at Excelsior will be the ECE exams from Excelsior itself. They offer Abnormal Psychology, Psychology of Adulthood and Aging, Social Psychology, and Research Methods in Psychology. The DSST exams in Fundamentals of Counseling, and Substance Abuse, are also popular. TECEP, the small paper-based testing program from Thomas Edison State College, offers a test in Psychology of Women.

There are also a few tests in very close cognate subjects to, or interdisciplinary subjects including, psychology, that aren't listed under psychology, that a destination school might in its discretion accept towards a psychology major. Check with the school if your taking a test would depend on its counting toward the major and it isn't absolutely clear. Listed under Sociology: TECEP Marriage and Family, ECE Foundations of Gerontology, ECE Juvenile Delinquency. Under Business: ECE or DSST Organizational Behavior. Under Communication: ECE Interpersonal Communication. DSST Foundations of Education should be on your radar, but I think would be pushing it at most schools for inclusion in a psychology major. Likewise CLEP or UExcel Intro Sociology.

And even if any of these wouldn't apply towards your major, they could be natural candidates for your free electives, etc., for the overlap and common ground.

If you're in range of New Britain, Connecticut, Charter Oak State College offers there, and only there and only on two scheduled windows per month or so, their Pathways exams in Child Development Psychology, Infant/Toddler Growth and Development, Early Language and Literacy, and Introduction to Early Childhood Education.

So, you have three CLEPs specifically to look at to apply towards a psychology major, and a fistful of tests that aren't quite CLEPs, but are from very similar programs.

[NAP]

Since you are enrolled, be sure that your advisor knows that you are interested in using credit-by-exam. Then you can talk over all of your options for the various requirements with them and get your planned credits approved.

We can help with suggestions, too. Please keep us updated on your progress.

[nosleepsheep]

Thank you guys your posts have been extremely helpful. I contacted my advisor today, however due to memorial day weekend wasn't able to set up a concrete "plan of action".

One thing I've just found out is, even though EC will translate their own exams and a few DSST exams to letter grades on their transcripsts, they have completely forfeited the ability to translate ANY CLEP exam to a letter grade. That's a major downer for me as during my first year in college I enrolled and dropped much more classes then I completed due to a very emotional year. And I haven't been back in college for over 5 years.

I have a lot of WF's which have drastically affected my GPA (It is a 1.5) and my goal is to apply to doctoral programs in Pscyh/Neuro Pscyh which require a much higher GPA. Therefore I absolutely need the letter grade VS. just credit.

I'm also enrolled in the new $10K degree program.

I could be wrong about this, however, this is what I've gathered from my search on the subject.

Any input is appreciated

[NAP]

Yes, it has been several years since EC stopped awarding grades for CLEP. I am not sure exactly when that happened.

It sounds like that year was a disaster. Be sure to check the Student Policy Handbook. I do not think those WF credits/grades will count toward your degree or GPA at EC. In a sense, you should be getting a fresh start.

If you have a specific graduate program in mind, you will want to find out their prerequisites, their admission's policy on undergrad credit-by-exam, and their view of the WF issue. They may want to see all of your transcripts, even if the credits were not part of your degree, but they may also be forgiving, if they see more recent academic success.

Since you want more graded credits, also check out Ohio U's credit-by-exam options. Just searching Ohio on this forum should bring up the recent conversations.

[marianne202]

When you first enroll you have I believe it is a 30 day window to ask for low grade classes to be removed from consideration on your eval. EC usually won't transfer any grade lower than a C so those WF's won't even be a factor. My GPA from my first two years of B&M college were low too, somewhere around a 2.8, it was hard to move it up and keep my coursework, so you will have to decide what is more important. I tried to use as many DSST exams that awarded letter grades, but those have significantly dropped with the new exam revisions. I have also had good luck with the ECE's, since I did a focus in psych. Those are graded and a lot award UL credit. As for your GPA for a doctoral program, I believe they will look at your last 60 credits and graduate school starts your GPA all over since no classes transfer into most grad school programs. I would focus on your present goal and worry about the doctoral program as you get into grad school. So many things can happen between now and then that it isn't worth fretting over now. Good luck!

[nosleepsheep]

Thank you to all of you for your responses & concern.

Marianne I'll be doing what NAP suggested also which is contacting specific programs to pick their brains on the WF issue due to the fact that another route I might be pursuing is a proffessional doctoral degree in a health feild, in which a lot of schools require you send transcripts from all universities you've ever attended.

On another note you were right, a day after your comment I received another official eval from my advisor which put my gpa at a 2.67 vs 1.5 with EC.

Im also taking the Spanish & Intro to Psych Clep this week )))))

[nosleepsheep]

Took my FIRST CLEP today!!! I thought I was going to fail last night because I went through IC and when I attempted to answer most of the questions in the CollegeBoard guide I was kind of puzzled on several...But i went back re-read, re-studied and got a 62 on Intro to Psych.

I've never taken a psych course in college before. Thank you IC and ppl on this board!

Next is Spanish tommorow! Trying to aim for those 12 credits :hurray: